Chapter 119: Rol Game Coins
Mi Hongdou took the coins. They were about the size of a one-yuan coin, with a large, raised “10” on one side and “ROL Game Coin” engraved on the other.
Jiang Lingling snatched two coins from Mi Hongdou, clinked them together, blew on them, then held them to her ear. “Are these silver?”
The director’s voice boomed through the loudspeaker. “Now, each team has received the same amount of pocket money. In the twelve-day world of Reality Online, ROL game coins will be essential for your survival. For example, you’ve all received your team uniforms. Plain and simple, as celebrities, wearing the same outfit for twelve days must be boring. You can use your ROL game coins to purchase more outfits. And at the beginning of the show, we have a special offer, a demonstration of how the coins work. If you’re not satisfied with the color of your uniform, we have black, dark blue, light gray, navy, lavender, beige, and other colors available. For just ten coins, you can change the color of all eight sets of clothes for your team – four uniforms and four sets of pajamas. Once we officially start Reality Online, ten coins will only be enough to change the color of one set. This is a limited-time offer, don’t miss out! Raise your hand if you’re interested~ This offer won’t be repeated~”
Who would use their coins when they know nothing about the game? Mi Hongdou thought, when Zhang Zijing suddenly raised his hand. “We want to change!”
Mi Hongdou glanced at his bundle. Well, as a man, making him wear light pink for twelve days was indeed… haha.
Zhang Zijing happily traded ten coins for a bundle of light gray uniforms.
Seeing this, everyone understood. The crew had prepared uniforms in different colors and sizes beforehand.
“Those fifty coins are shared by each team. How you use them, whether you discuss it or one person decides, we don’t interfere. Jiang Duo, are you satisfied with your uniform color? You can still change it, ten coins, just ten coins!” After Zhang Zijing’s transaction, the director resumed his sales pitch.
“So, if I change the color now, it’s free?” Jiang Duo asked.
“Of course… not! It’s ten coins every time!” the director said, his voice exaggeratedly shocked. “Are you planning to try every color?”
“…” Jiang Duo glanced at Zhang Zijing’s new uniform. “Actually, light gray is quite nice.”
“Anyone else? This is your last chance!”
“If I only want to change the color of my own two sets, is it half price, five coins?” Bao Yueqiao suddenly asked.
Ji Junxin stared at her, surprised.
“Of course, half price for half the set, we have five-coin denominations for change.” The director sounded delighted.
A crew member quickly appeared, offering Bao Yueqiao a brass five-coin piece.
Bao Yueqiao, startled, took a step back. “I… I was just asking… I just thought, wearing the same clothes all the time… wouldn’t it be… inappropriate…” She glanced at Ji Junxin.
Although she didn’t know Bao Yueqiao very well, Ji Junxin had heard things from Qiao Rubai. This girl, although kind, often overthought things, always trying to be considerate of others. Like now, a casual observer might think that Bao Yueqiao wanted to change her uniform color because she didn’t want to match with Ji Junxin. But Ji Junxin guessed that Bao Yueqiao was worried about her feelings.
“It’s fine,” Ji Junxin reassured her.
“Then… I won’t change.” Bao Yueqiao put the silver coin she had been playing with back into Ji Junxin’s hand and then gestured to the crew member. “No money, no change.”
“…” The crew member looked at the director, then quickly retreated.
Bao Yueqiao, relieved, looked at Ji Junxin. “Are you sure it’s okay?”
Ji Junxin shook her head. After you messed up the teams, who cares about the uniform color!
“It seems the five-coin piece is made of brass,” Jiang Lingling whispered to Mi Hongdou. “Look, when they said half price for half the set, Jiang Duo’s face fell, she must have liked the pink. All girls have a princess dream.”
Do you even know what live streaming is! Is it okay to be so blatant with your comments! Although that was her thought, Mi Hongdou couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Duo. Yes, her expression was terrible, haha.
Mi Hongdou suppressed her laughter.
Jiang Duo was indeed incredibly frustrated. She hadn’t expected Zhang Zijing to spend their coins without even consulting her. Normally, she wouldn’t have minded, but her family’s debt had made her incredibly sensitive about money. With the situation still unclear, and Zhang Zijing spending a fifth of their money so easily, it was…
After a few more unsuccessful attempts at selling uniform changes, the director moved on. Team One: white. Team Two: light yellow. Team Three: light green. Team Four: light gray… Everyone was satisfied, except for Jiang Duo.
“You’ve all seen how the game coins work for ‘clothing.’ Now, let’s talk about ‘food.’ First, the breakfast earlier was provided by the show, but for the next twelve days, you have to cook for yourselves. Each team can only eat their own food, no sharing or helping each other. Besides your own cooking, you can also choose to eat the free crew meals, which consist of plain rice, pickled cucumbers, and some vitamins and nutritional supplements. Now, let’s draw lots for today’s lunch ingredients. One person from each team.”
A covered box was brought in.
“Don’t tell me we have to eat whatever we draw!” Bao Yueqiao said, horrified. Before joining the show, she had watched some foreign reality shows. This segment looked familiar, eat a snake if you draw a snake, eat a frog if you draw a frog, she didn’t want to do it!
Jiang Lingling, however, was interested in the box. “Don’t worry, I’ll draw for our team. If it’s a snake, I’ll just strangle it, and you can make snake soup.”
Mi Hongdou: “…” I don’t even want to comment on the live streaming anymore, but are you really okay with your superhuman strength being broadcast? Strangling a snake with your bare hands, why not just tear it apart!
But their worries were unfounded. The box contained lottery sticks.
Jiang Lingling returned after drawing, looking slightly disappointed. “Just lottery sticks? Drawing snakes or frogs would have been much more entertaining. This show is boring.”
Fortunately, it’s not snakes or frogs! The lottery started with Ji Junxin and Bao Yueqiao’s team. The contents of the box weren’t revealed beforehand. Mi Hongdou watched as Ji Junxin’s face paled while drawing a stick, thankfully it was just a stick! Being teamed up with Bao Yueqiao is really putting Ji Junxin at a disadvantage. If she were on my team, I wouldn’t have let her do it! Mi Hongdou felt both sympathy for Ji Junxin and regret for not noticing her arrival earlier, she could have volunteered to draw.
“We got chicken! What should we make? If it’s a hen, I want chicken soup, if it’s a rooster, five-spice chicken!” Jiang Lingling, no longer dwelling on the missing snake, said excitedly. “I wonder if they have all the seasonings, if not, braised chicken is also fine.”
Mi Hongdou: “You’re cooking?”
Jiang Lingling looked at her, horrified. “I risked losing fans by teaming up with you for good food, and you’re not cooking?”
Mi Hongdou: …Is it my fault?
Unbeknownst to Jiang Lingling, she hadn’t lost any fans, on the contrary, her live stream was incredibly popular. The comments were filled with suggestions for how to divide a chicken into multiple parts for Mi Hongdou to cook: braised chicken head, braised chicken neck, steamed chicken breast with corn, chicken noodle soup, fried chicken wings, honey-glazed chicken wings, five-spice chicken legs, curry chicken legs, pickled pepper chicken feet, black bean sauce chicken feet… They had meticulously planned an entire chicken feast. Fortunately, Jiang Lingling couldn’t see the comments, or she might actually suggest it to Mi Hongdou.
Even knowing that the reality show wouldn’t be easy, chicken, as an ingredient, wasn’t a challenge for Mi Hongdou. The real question was…
“Um… do you think the other teams can cook?” She asked tactfully, facing the camera.
Jiang Lingling, always attuned to Mi Hongdou’s thoughts, said, “Judging by Bao Yueqiao, she probably knows how to eat.”
With the cameras rolling, can you not be so blatant! Mi Hongdou waited, but Jiang Lingling didn’t elaborate, so she continued, “What about the other two teams?”
“Them? What do they have to do with us?” Jiang Lingling looked at Mi Hongdou as if she had asked a strange question.
Okay… I won’t ask… Mi Hongdou gave up, it was difficult to be friends with this person!
“By the way, I saw they drew ‘fish’ earlier,” Jiang Lingling said.
Okay, we can still be friends.
“Fish? Making fish soup is easy. And the program provides rice, so that’s a meal.” Mi Hongdou, thinking of Ji Junxin, figured that although they couldn’t share food, she could teach Ji Junxin how to make a simple fish soup, it wouldn’t be too bad.
Mi Hongdou’s optimism was quickly shattered by what the crew brought next.
It was chicken and fish… she recognized them. But… they were alive!
This wasn’t good.
As expected, the director announced, “The ingredients have arrived! Slaughtering service available for twenty coins. Special offer, limited time only, don’t miss out!”
“Twenty?!” Jiang Lingling couldn’t help but exclaim. “It only costs two yuan to have a chicken slaughtered at the market, three yuan if you want it chopped, are you hiring professional butchers here? Licensed ones? That’s highway robbery!”
“Professional butchering service, twenty coins, you deserve it~ Jiang Lingling, interested?” The director, ignoring the real-world market price, continued his sales pitch.
“No…” Jiang Lingling waved her hand dismissively. “A twenty-coin chicken, can it fly after being eaten?… I’ll do it for nineteen.”
The director: “…” Stealing my job and undercutting my price, how annoying.
“Twenty coins, anyone? This is your last chance!” He ignored Jiang Lingling and continued his sales pitch.
A chicken clucked in front of Mi Hongdou and Jiang Lingling, trying to peck at the goose in front of Lu Changhuai and Yu Naihao. Two medium-sized crucian carp swam in a basin in front of Ji Junxin and Bao Yueqiao. And in front of Jiang Duo and Zhang Zijing was a basket of croaking bullfrogs, which made Bao Yueqiao retreat in horror. Accompanied by the director’s sales pitch, it wasn’t a reality show, it was a livestock market, with exorbitant slaughtering fees!
The online viewers were going crazy, they had seen reality shows with assigned ingredients, but not live ones! Celebrities cared about their image, who would kill them themselves? That twenty coins, they would have to spend it!
Oh, except for Jiang Lingling, haha! She’s so funny, she needs a dedicated camera, no, two!
After the director’s prompting, besides Jiang Lingling, Lu Changhuai and Yu Naihao also refused the exorbitant fee. Only Ji Junxin and Bao Yueqiao, and Zhang Zijing and Jiang Duo, were still hesitating.
Two girls, and a basket of terrifying bullfrogs, the online viewers were certain that the forty coins were as good as gone.
And they weren’t far off. After a brief discussion, Ji Junxin and Bao Yueqiao declined, while Zhang Zijing and Jiang Duo paid the twenty coins.
Viewers without access to the individual live streams asked those with multiple computers or fast switching skills what Ji Junxin had said.
“She said that although it was a demonstration of how to use the coins, it seemed like the show really wanted them to spend the coins. So, she thought it was better to wait.” And Bao Yueqiao had agreed.
So, in the end, only Zhang Zijing and Jiang Duo paid for the slaughtering service, and the crew took away the basket of bullfrogs.
This outcome clearly didn’t satisfy the show, because the director then yelled, “Serve!”
Four crew members, carrying trays, approached the teams and revealed their contents.
The aroma of butter, black pepper, and grilled meat wafted towards them. It had been over two hours since breakfast, and the smell made them hungry.
On each tray, a steak, larger than the usual restaurant steak, sizzled on a hot iron plate, coated in black pepper sauce, which also covered the fried egg next to it. Two scoops of mashed potatoes completed the dish.
“Just twenty coins for this steak, your lunch! Twenty coins, the best price! This offer won’t be repeated!” The director’s voice was tempting. “Nice and hot, these are just samples, we’ll make them fresh, anytime before this afternoon.”
Mi Hongdou heard Jiang Lingling gulp beside her.
“…” Mi Hongdou touched the five silver coins in her hand. “If we have the chance later, I’ll make you pan-fried chicken steak,” she whispered.
The gulping sound stopped.
Having dealt with Jiang Lingling, Mi Hongdou leaned forward to look at Ji Junxin. She didn’t think either Ji Junxin or Bao Yueqiao would have the courage to kill the fish, and even if they did, scaling and removing the gallbladder were tricky… she was worried, but with so many cameras, she couldn’t offer any advice. And this steak, also twenty coins, was a much better deal than the slaughtering service. Such a large steak, it should be enough for two… well, with rice, it would be a filling meal.
Mi Hongdou desperately tried to convey her thoughts with her gaze, but Ji Junxin and Bao Yueqiao were busy discussing, and she couldn’t catch their eyes. This team setup is the worst!
In the end, Ji Junxin didn’t buy the steak.
Zhang Zijing wanted to, but after paying for the butchering service, the remaining two coins had been taken by Jiang Duo, who didn’t seem inclined to spend them on steak. Why wasn’t the steak offered before the butchering service! Who knew how to cook bullfrogs!
If the order were reversed, it wouldn’t be a reality show.
But the show’s efforts weren’t completely in vain, one steak was sold. Yu Naihao looked eager to try it, so Lu Changhuai bought it for him. When Yu Naihao offered to buy one for him too, Lu Changhuai refused.
Mi Hongdou watched, incredibly jealous! Also a CP from a popular film, why were they so harmonious, while she wanted to buy everything for Ji Junxin!
After the steak was taken away, the director finally stopped his sales pitch and officially announced the rules of the reality show.
“Welcome to the world of Reality Online, a twelve-day gaming experience. First, some basic rules and a brief introduction. See that village in the distance with the smoke? That’s Dengjia Village, where you’ll be living for the next twelve days. Here, you’ll enter a new world. We’ll provide basic necessities: shelter, the previously mentioned plain rice with pickled cucumbers and nutritional supplements, uniforms and pajamas. Regardless of how much luggage you brought, you can only bring your personal belongings into the village…”
The director paused, and everyone waited.
“Besides personal belongings, what else?” Yu Naihao, impatient, asked. “Can’t we even bring offline game consoles?”
“I said, only personal belongings,” the director replied, his tone mischievous.
Everyone, both on set and online, was in an uproar.
So, this was how a reality show was supposed to be, torturing the celebrities!
“Heh…” Jiang Lingling, amused by the rules, easily found the nearest camera. “Dad, I know you’re watching, don’t worry, I’m used to this kind of life.”
Dong Yuannan, surrounded by three computer screens, one showing four different angles of Jiang Lingling, felt like crying. Qiong Yu, Qiao Rubai, don’t leave after work, let’s talk!
Mi Hongdou had expected some restrictions, which was why she had only packed necessities. But this… Qiao Rubai, aren’t you being too harsh! Ji Junxin is also here, you’re torturing her too!
Qiao Rubai, also watching the live stream on multiple screens, had been sneezing for a while. But she felt she was being unfairly blamed. Qiong Yu was only responsible for the production, the rules, the game elements, those were all Pan Xiang’s creations, Pan Xiang should be the one sneezing. But there was one thing she had to take responsibility for…
At the “Divorce, So Be It 2” wrap-up party, she had told Mi Hongdou about Ji Junxin’s past relationship with Jiang Duo. And when Mi Hongdou asked if Ji Junxin’s reaction to her death meant that she had feelings for her, Qiao Rubai had wanted to hint that Ji Junxin probably had feelings for her in this life too.
But before she could say it, Mi Hongdou, while sobbing, had asked how she knew about her rebirth.
So, Qiao Rubai had revealed Mi Hongdou’s slip-up with the scallions, ginger, and garlic.
And then Mi Hongdou, after staring at her for a long moment, had said, “Did you really conclude that I’m also reborn just because of how I handle seasonings? Or maybe I just learned about Ji Junxin’s preferences after living with her for a while?”
Mi Hongdou’s words were like a slap in the face, and Qiao Rubai felt… a little foolish.
Feeling a little embarrassed, she had lost her desire to give Mi Hongdou any hints. Hmph, if you’re so capable, then pursue Ji Junxin yourself!
She hadn’t told Mi Hongdou about Ji Junxin’s feelings, thinking it would be a good test. “Reality Online,” with its focus on teamwork and survival, was perfect for building relationships. But Qiao Rubai hadn’t expected… Mi Hongdou and Ji Junxin to be on different teams…
It… wasn’t her fault!
Regardless of the uproar caused by the “only personal belongings” rule, the director continued, “Besides the basic necessities and your personal belongings, everything else you need or want, from tools and seasonings to houses and furniture, can be exchanged for ROL game coins. There will be a detailed list of available items and their prices in the village. And don’t worry, you’ll see that the initial prices are discounted. And with enough coins, you can even request items not on the list, even specific brands, our staff will assess the price. As for the coins, besides the initial fifty coins each team receives, you’ll have to earn the rest. There are many ways to earn coins: daily team challenges, helping the villagers, many opportunities await you. Simply put, if you don’t participate, it’s fine, we’ll provide basic shelter and plain rice, you can just sleep for twelve days, and our cameramen won’t have to work too hard. But we do hope you’ll actively participate, after all, even if you don’t eat, your teammates still have to! And with enough coins, you can live in a big house and enjoy roasted lamb legs!”
“Hearing that last sentence, I have a bad feeling about this…” Ji Junxin said, leaning closer to Mi Hongdou. Why am I on the same team as Bao Yueqiao? Why not Mi Hongdou?
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